Comments on: The Emperor’s Tram

By: Tim

Tim — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 20:22:45 +0000

Just a quick comment about the FT review. It seems as though the author, John Kay, doesn’t fully agree with the contention of the above post. He states, “But they [Wilkinson and Pickett] do not have data to support a more general claim that equality benefits the rich as well as the poor.” So my question would be, why cite this article for one statement that the author made when the main discussion is critical of the idea that more equal societies do better? Let me know if I am not not understanding this properly.

By: Nate Briggs

Nate Briggs — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 21:54:57 +0000

My comment is very similar to Joel … although I live in a much smaller city.

Light rail arrived in Salt Lake City about 4 years ago, and my first impression of it was the relative quiet, the speed at which the riders traveled, and the spaciousness.

Buses, on the other hand - even though their designers probably do not intend this impression - remind you, every moment, that you are a “loser”. They lurch from place to place … always accelerating and then stopping … with an enormous amount of noise.

And, of course, the schedules are ridiculous. Once an hour, for some routes.

Everything about the bus reminds you that you would be better off with another form of transportation.

And this is a transit system that is well-funded - and has won quite a few quality awards.

By: Joel

Joel — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:56:51 +0000

I had the polar opposite of the Zurich experience last week when I flew into LaGuardia, then tried to take a bus to my cousin’s home in Queens.

The whole time I felt like the entire system was trying to tell me: “Give up and hire a taxi. We REALLY don’t want you to take advantage of our public transportation system.”

I know everyone loves NY’s massive subway and bus system, but it’s INCREDIBLY human-unfriendly, even compared to other big cities.